Stephen Charnock: “The apostle speaks of the faith of Abel, the faith of Enoch, such a faith that pleases God: but the faith of Abel testified in his sacrifice, and the faith of Enoch testified in his walking with God, was not simply a faith of the existence of God. Cain in the time of Abel, other in men in the world in the time of Enoch, believed this as well as they: but it was a faith joined with the worship of God, and desires to please Him in the way of His own appointment; so that they believed that God was such as He had declared Himself to be in His promise to Adam, such an one as would be as good as His word, and bruise the serpent’s head. He that seeks to God according to the mind of God, must believe that He is such a God that will pardon sin, and justify a seeker of Him; that He is a God of that ability and will, to justify a sinner in that way he hath appointed for the clearing of the holiness of His nature, and vindicating the honor of His law violated by man. No man can seek God or love God, unless He believe Him to be thus; and he cannot seek God without a discovery of His own mind how He would be sought…”
Clay Miller: Again, I am cutting short of finishing this long paragraph by Charnock…for one, it is long, and two it is loaded with great material. Believing in God does not save; nor does believing Jesus exists. That is a kind of faith that can be called a dead faith when not accompanied by a love and passion for God and Jesus Christ. And something very profound to me that Charnock said was that this love and passion for Him must be the way God appointed, not some market driven, culturally cool, contemporary way. People today try to “please” God in ways they think are, well, more relevant than what God prescribes in His word. So now I see mega churches all over the place, even churches that started with a survey on what people want church to be, rather than caring about what Scripture says church is to be. They say it is more relevant and as long as it is sanctified with the profession of doing it for Jesus it is okay to God. I disagree. The Bible does too. God is to be worshipped and sought through the preaching of the word and in truth and spirit. Not with gimmicks, or fashion, or trends, or coolness…not by toning down messages so as to not preach on who God says He really is. God is worthy of our reverence, out attention to learning His word. The faith He is pleased with is a faith not only grounded in knowing Scripture but also in desiring to know it and to living it out as He has said to. Most people would have no idea what Charnock is talking about when he says that we must believe that God is of the ability and will to justify a sinner in the way he has appointed “for the clearing of the holiness of His nature and vindicating the honor of His law violated by man”.
What he is speaking about is how God can be both just and the justifier of sinners. How can God save a sinner without violating His own holiness? How can He justify a sinner without ignoring the deserved punishment? It would be unjust of God to overlook even one sin. And He is perfectly just. So how does He save us? He punished the sinner’s sin in Christ. Christ took the blow. So the violation of Clay against God was indeed punished. Christ took it for me. So God remains just in punishing sin. And He justified me…declared me not guilty! This is the faith He has granted me and effected a passion and love for Him above all. True faith must believe that this reward is true for those who believe. More later…
